As the first day of public hearings into the draft legislation got under way, the minister said he wanted to ensure there was no ambiguity about what it means.

"The only purpose of the legislation I will be bringing before the Houses of the Oireachtas is to clarify what is lawfully available by way of treatment in cases where there is a real and substantial threat to the life of a pregnant woman and to set out clearly to find in specific circumstances in which this treatment can be lawfully provided," Dr Reilly said.

Today is the first of three days of hearings on the legislation, the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013, which, if enacted, will legalise abortion where there is a substantial risk to the mother's life, including the threat of suicide

Hearings at the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children are also planned for Monday and Tuesday.

Each hearing is expected to last around ten hours.

The masters of two major maternity hospitals, Rhona Mahony, from the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street and Sam Coulter Smith, of the Rotunda Hospital, will give evidence later today before.

The bill will legislate for the 1992 X case judgment from Ireland's Supreme Court which found abortion is legal if there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including emergency medical cases, non-emergency medical cases and the threat of suicide.

The case was taken by a 14-year-old rape victim who became pregnant and was refused permission to travel for an abortion.

As well as that judgment, the law is intended to meet requirements from a European court decision that found a woman in remission from cancer should not have been forced to travel overseas for an abortion.

The Government committed to reforming the ban on abortion by July following the death of Savita Halappanavar in a Galway hospital last year after being denied a termination during miscarriage.